By Mary Jaksch
How do you respond to emergencies: are you calm and resourceful? Or do you throw a wobbler?
In general, I’m a good person to have around in an emergency. I’ve even assisted in an operation (with no medical training) when a junior surgeon in a third-world country couldn’t control the bleeding after a minor operation on a friend of mine. Blood began to pool on the floor and spray up to the ceiling. I focused on handing the tools and surgical squabs to the doctor (who went rather pale herself), as well as reassuring my friend. Everyone survived.
But now and then I do throw a wobbler – especially if I haven’t taken basic precautions. And that’s the nub of it:
If you prepare for emergencies, you can stay calm, save time – and sometimes even lives.
Because the speed with which we respond, is often crucial for survival. Let me give you a scenario: let’s say that you are in a foreign country and your partner or friend suddenly gets sick and needs to go to hospital. That happened to me a short while ago and while my partner’s temperature rose at a frightening rate, I was frantically trying to trace his travel insurance and find out which hospital to go to. That wobbler could have been avoided if I had had all the necessary information to hand right from the start.
So I thought it would be a good idea to write a post on how we can prepare ourselves for emergencies. I’ve listed below a series of questions. See how many of them you can answer with ‘yes’.
Personal emergencies
- Do you have all your insurance details at hand in case of health problems, fire, or burglary?
Tip: Send yourself an email with details to a gmail address so that you can access them any time.. - Do you keep your doctor’s number, as well as the number of your local hospital in a prominent place?
Tip: Stick a note to the wall above your home phone.. - Do you know what to do if you think you’re having a heart attack?
Tip: Check out “Cough CPR” here. It’s a CPR that you can do on yourself. Some doctors endorse it – and it’s worth a try.. - Have you completed a First Aid course or a recent refresher?
Tip: Make completing a First Aid course a priority. It can save lives.. - Do you know your blood type?.
Tip: If you don’t know your blood type, donate blood. Then stick a note into your passport stating your blood type.. - Do you know what to do if a fire breaks out?
Tip: Have an escape plan. Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and have it checked each year.. - Do you have a smoke alarm in each room of your home?
Tip: Change the batteries once a year.. - Have you got a burglar alarm in your home?
Tip: Have your house checked by a security specialist.. - Have you got a video or imagesof your possessions?
Tip: Walk through your house and video your possessions or take photos. Keep this video in a safe place.. - Does a family member or trusted friend have your email passwords.
Tip: This will allow her or him to alert your friends if something happens to you.. - Does a family member or trusted friend have details of your life insurance?
Tip: This can make things a lot easier for those you leave behind.. - Does a family member or trusted friend have you Power of Attorney?
Tip: This is important at any age. If you are incapacitated, someone can then carry on necessary business tasks for you – like pay your bills.. - Have you made a will?
Tip: You should make a will even if you think you don’t own much. It makes things much easier for your loved ones.. - Do you back up your computer regularly?
Tip: It can be devastating to lose important files stored on one’s computer. Buy an external hard-drive and get used to backing up at least weekly.Civil Emergencies
- Do you have a transistor radio in order to hear what’s going on?
Tip: Keep the emergency radio tuned to your local station and keep some replacement batteries handy.. - Do you have torches and batteries, as well as matches handy?
Tip: Keep the torches and matches where you can feel for them in the dark.. - Do you know how to safeguard your house against earthquakes?
Tip: Fasten cupboards against the walls; store good china with padding between plates.. - Have you stored drinking water?
Tip: You should have 20 liters of drinking water in an airtight container.. - Have you got emergency food supplies?
Tip: Check out this list of suggested non-perishable foods.. - Do you know what to do when an earthquake strikes?
Tip: Immediately stand under a door frame or crawl under a table.. - Do you know how to prepare your home for a hurricane?
Tip: Check out this list of tips.. - Do you know how to keep yourself safe during a hurricane?
Tip: check out these guidelines.. - Do you know what to do if a wildfire threatens?
Tip: Check out these preparations.. - Do you know how to spot a Tsunami?
Tip: Check out these tips.Travel
- Have you read your country’s travel advisory to see if your destination is safe at the time of travel?
Tip: Civil unrest often shows up only in large urban areas, whereas the countryside can still be safe.. - Do you know the number of your embassy in your destination country?
Tip: If you are traveling in an unsafe area, let your embassy know in advance.. - Do you know the national emergency number of the country you are in?
Tip: Don’t assume you know it. Check with locals.. - Have you scanned your passport and emailed the image to a trusted friend or family member?
Tip: Getting a new passport will be much faster if you can produce an image of the lost one. You can use your digital camera to take a shot of the important pages.. - Have you sent an itinerary of your overseas trip to friends and family members?
Tip: If you change your movements, let them know.. - Do you know what to do in times of civil unrest?
Tip: Move into a large hotel, stay inside, and ring your embassy..
Conclusion
It’s not pleasant to think about what could happen. But if you have are prepared you can let let go of worries.
Some people don’t want to prepare because they feel it attracts the emergency. I don’t think that’s true. And some people have strange magical beliefs about safety. Here’s an example: a while ago I was riding in a car with a woman who love crystals and studies their healing properties. On the dashboard she had lined up seven fist-size quartz crystals. I eyed them warily.
“Elisabeth,” I said, “those crystals worry me. If you have a car crash they’ll turn into deadly projectiles.”
“No, no!” She answered. ” Those crystals prevent me from having a car crash.”
That kind of magical thinking will earn you a full-on wobbler when you finally do have an emergency.
How to keep calm in an emergency
Here are some simple tips that can help you stay sensible and grounded during an emergency:
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31. Take some deep, calming breaths
32. Focus on the next step ahead
33. Always have a fall-back plan.
34. Reassure with words and touch sick or injured people.
35. Make this your mantra: “They way forward is…” (Your mind will fill in the blank)
36. Focus on others, not on yourself. It will make you stronger
What’s your sense: should we prepare for emergencies, or not?
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Have you got some stories about how you handled emergencies? Or some tips? I’d love to read about them in the comments.
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Note: I’m about to go on a trip into the jungles of Costa Rica with my brother George. So during the next three weeks I will be far away from computers and won’t be able to access the Internet. Arvind Devalia will look after Goodlife Zen during that time and I’ve invited some friends to write guest posts. Check out Arvind’s inspiring post 6 Key Lessons in Life From a 140 Year Old Man. Make sure you click on all the links for some suprises!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Mary, your post is timed perfectly.
Earlier on this evening, I returned from the gym to find my central heating radiator in the office had leaked and the carpet was sodding wet. Luckily the electrics were not affected.
I jumped into action switching off the heating system and then closing down the radiator with my trused tools (I knew just where they were).
Then it was just a few minutes to call the maintenance company who will be visiting on Monday morning to repair or replace the radiator.
It is for times like this that we have emergency cover and today I got full value from my year’s annual fee for the central heating homecare insurance!
I am glad that you and your partner were able to deal with his medical emergency eventually.
To your tips I would also add something about being able to communicate in the local language whilst you are travelling. At least have a good guide book with key translated phraes.
I know I have had some serious langauge challenges when I have travelled around India – the locals do speak english but it might as well be a different language!
Also quickly learn key differences in cultural gestures. For example, in India people reply yes to a question but shake their head at the same time!
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!
It’s always good to stay calm when emergencies happen. Extreme panicking (often what my mom does) makes the situation harder to deal with and adds more stress to everybody.
You’re blood story was relieving to hear and it was great how you handled it. Thanks for sharing these tips with us!
Tristan Lee´s last blog ..Saying Hello to a Stranger: My Awkward One Second Experience
There are some good ideas here, but I feel like some of these is just being too precaucious! (like storing drinking water in airtight places)
Another thing I do not totally understand is “focus on the next step ahead”. Isn’t focusing on NOW more important?
Don’t get me wrong, there are some really good ideas listed there, but all of them treated as a whole don’t really feel like “zen”
Zoli
Zoli Cserei´s last blog ..Great Tools Don’t Make Great Talents
Great post.
I survived the Loma Prieta earthquake. One point I would like to add is always keep a couple of hundred dollars in cash where you can easily access it. Because there was no electricity for almost a week, the ATM machines were out of order.
Mary I think that it is a useful post. I also think that each person can make adjustments to this list according to where they live and what their lifestyle is (you do not have to be ready for a hurricane if there aren’t any hurricanes in your area, right?) Think ahead is what will get you through (hopefully).
I remember one time my mom had high fever, she fainted and was not responding to anything. I was at home with my grandmother and she started panicking right away. I was just a teenager back then I was worried to death. However, I tried to embrace myself and trying to figure out what my grandmother was saying I called the ambulance. My mom was fine and nothing serious happened to her (nerves and high fever, that’s all). However, I did notice how my grandmother panicked in that situation (I was just a little bit better) and I have decided that i need to be prepared and level-headed in case anything like this happens in the future.
i pray. for me that is the key to the answers of my emergencies
Hey Mary. Thanks so much for sharing this. I wish lots of people in the Philippines read it before the two really strong typhoons hit in early October. This would have helped them save a lot of valuable items from their houses.
We still expect a number of typhoons to hit the Philippines before the year ends. So am just gonna share this via Facebook and some SNS.
Penstalker´s last blog ..Seven Tips to becoming a More Productive Writer
@Zoli Thanks for your input. I believe Mary was coming from the point of covering all eventualities and though most of them may not apply to you or me – e.g. no earthquakes in London YET:-), quite a few of these would apply to a lot of her readers.
As for the storing of water, my parents who are also in the UK, did exactly this in Dec 1999 in preparation for the Y2K bug “catastrophe” on mindnight 31st 1999, but fortunately they didn’t need it.
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!
@Steven, thanks for that valuable tip about keeping some spare cash handy.
I remember doing this each weekend before partying in case the ATMs ran out of cash. In those days there were few ATMs unlike nowadays where cash is available more easily than ever before. Not necessarily a good thing:-)
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!
@Zoli I agree with you – focussing on the now is most important. And by doing so, we can then formulate the next steps.
Remember in an emergency things can happen really quickly so it is key to think on your feet and start planning ahead as well as taking in the immediate scenario.
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!
@Anastasiya – Thanks for sharing the story about your grandmother panicking – a great case for being level headed even if you are young:-)
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!
@penstalker – Thanks for spreading the message in your country, one which is so often hit by natural disaster.
Let us hope that more people are better prepared now and in the future.
Arvind Devalia´s last blog ..Make It Happen in 30 Days – Just Go On An Adventure!